Junior doctors - A farce that may cost lives

JUNIOR doctors are a vital part of our hospital-based health system, so much so that a shortage may be putting patients’ wellbeing in jeopardy and could force some hospitals to close wards.

Against this background, it is hard to understand how one junior doctor could earn over €200,000 in overtime payments in a year. Apart from the poor use of scarce resources, the hours needed to attract such a payment – around 100 hours a week – suggest that the individual involved has incredible stamina or that some of the patients under that doctor’s care might have been dealing with an exhausted and ineffective individual.

The junior doctors’ saga is another indictment of the HSE and a strong argument for the type of deep reform we have not yet seen but need so very badly.